Genesis 22:1

Updated Bible Version

And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am.

Parallel Translations

Geneva Bible (1587)
And after these things God did proue Abraham, and said vnto him, Abraham. Who answered, Here am I.

George Lamsa Translation
AND it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Behold, here I am.

Hebrew Names Version
It happened after these things, that God tested Avraham, and said to him, "Avraham!" He said, "Here I am."

Easy-to-Read Version
After these things God decided to test Abraham's faith. God said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Yes!"

English Standard Version
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

American Standard Version
And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.

Bible in Basic English
Now after these things, God put Abraham to the test, and said to him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.

Contemporary English Version
Some years later God decided to test Abraham, so he spoke to him. Abraham answered, "Here I am, Lord ."

Complete Jewish Bible
(vii) After these things, God tested Avraham. He said to him, "Avraham!" and he answered, "Here I am."

Darby Translation
And it came to pass after these things, that God tried Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! and he said, Here am I.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him: 'Abraham'; and he said: 'Here am I.'

King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said vnto him, Abraham. And hee said, Beholde, heere I am.

King James Version
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

Amplified Bible
Now after these things, God tested [the faith and commitment of] Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he answered, "Here I am."

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it came to pass after these things that God tempted Abraam, and said to him, Abraam, Abraam; and he said, Lo! I am here.

English Revised Version
And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.

Berean Standard Bible
Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he answered.

Lexham English Bible
And it happened that after these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

Literal Translation
And it happened after these things, testing Abraham, God said to him, Abraham! And he said, Behold me.

New Century Version
After these things God tested Abraham's faith. God said to him, "Abraham!" And he answered, "Here I am."

New English Translation
Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am!" Abraham replied.

New King James Version
Hebrews 11:17-19">[xr] Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

New Living Translation
Some time later, God tested Abraham's faith. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes," he replied. "Here I am."

New Life Bible
Later God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" Abraham said, "Here I am."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it cared to pass after these things, that God, did prove Abraham, - and he said unto him, Abraham! And he said Behold me!

Douay-Rheims Bible
After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

Revised Standard Version
After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."

Good News Translation
Some time later God tested Abraham; he called to him, "Abraham!" And Abraham answered, "Yes, here I am!"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And aftir that these thingis weren don, God assaiede Abraham, and seide to hym, Abraham! Abraham! He answerde, Y am present.

Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass after these things that God hath tried Abraham, and saith unto him, `Abraham;' and he saith, `Here [am] I.'

World English Bible
It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass after these things, that God tempted Abraham, and said to him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, [here] I [am].

Bishop's Bible (1568)
After these sayinges, god did tempt Abraham, and sayde vnto him Abraham. Which answered, here I am.

Christian Standard Bible®
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
After these actes God tempted Abraham, and sayde vnto him: Abraham. And he answered: I am here.

THE MESSAGE
After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, "Abraham!" "Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening."

New American Standard Bible
Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

New Revised Standard
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened after these things, that God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

Contextual Overview

¹ And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. ² And he said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. And offer him there for a burnt-offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2132, bc 1872, Jos, Ant

God: Exodus 15:25, Exodus 15:26, Exodus 16:4, Deuteronomy 8:2, Deuteronomy 13:3, Judges 2:22, 2 Samuel 24:1, 2 Chronicles 32:31, Proverbs 17:3, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 11:17, James 1:12-14, James 2:21, 1 Peter 1:7

tempt: Or prove, or try, as tempt, from tento, originally signified.

Behold, here I am: Heb. Behold me, Genesis 22:7, Genesis 22:11, Exodus 3:4, Isaiah 6:8

Reciprocal: Genesis 21:11 - because Genesis 31:11 - Here am I Genesis 37:13 - Here am I Genesis 46:2 - Jacob Exodus 4:4 - put forth Exodus 20:20 - prove Judges 7:4 - I will 1 Samuel 3:4 - called Samuel 1 Kings 17:13 - make me thereof 1 Kings 17:17 - the son of the woman Job 7:18 - try Psalms 11:5 - trieth Matthew 6:13 - lead John 6:6 - prove John 20:16 - Mary Acts 9:10 - Behold Acts 22:7 - Saul

Cross-References

Genesis 22:7
And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Look, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?

Genesis 22:11
And the angel of Yahweh called to him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am.

Genesis 22:12
And he said, Don't lay your hand on the lad, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you haven't withheld your son, your only son, from me.

Genesis 22:14
And Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-jireh. As it is said to this day, On the mount of Yahweh it shall be provided.

Exodus 3:4
And when Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am.

Exodus 16:4
Then Yahweh said to Moses, Look, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.

Deuteronomy 8:2
And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.

Deuteronomy 8:16
who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn't know; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end.

Deuteronomy 13:3
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for Yahweh your God proves you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Judges 2:22
that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass after these things,.... Recorded in the preceding chapter: according to the Talmudists b, the following affair was transacted quickly after the weaning of Isaac, when he was about five years old, which is the opinion of some, as Aben Ezra on

Genesis 22:4; makes mention of; but that is an age when it can hardly be thought he should be able to carry such a load of wood as was sufficient to make a fire to consume a burnt offering, Genesis 22:6; the age of thirteen, which he fixes upon, is more likely: Josephus c says, that Isaac was twenty five years of age; and in this year of his age Bishop Usher d places this transaction, twenty years after the weaning of him, in A. M. 2133, and before Christ 1871; and near to this is the computation of a Jewish chronologer e, who makes Isaac to be at this time twenty six years of age; but some make him much older: according to the Targum of Jonathan, he was at this time thirty six years old; and it is the more generally received opinion of the Jewish writers f that he was and with whom the Arabic writers g agree: so that this affair, after related, was thirty years after the weaning of Isaac and the expulsion of Ishmael, supposing Isaac to be then five years old. But, however this be, what came to pass was after many promises of a son had been given him, and those fulfilled; and after many blessings had been bestowed upon him; and when he seemed to be well settled in the land of the Philistines, having entered into an alliance with the king of the country; his family in peace, and his son Isaac, the son of the promise, grown up and a hopeful youth; the first appearance of which seemed to threaten the destruction of all his comforts, hopes, and expectations; and it was so,

that God did tempt Abraham; not to sin, as Satan does, for God tempts no man, nor can he be tempted in this sense; and, had Abraham slain his son, it would have been no sin in him, it being by the order of God, who is the Lord of life, and the sovereign disposer of it; but he tempted him, that is, he tried him, to prove him, and to know his faith in him, his fear of him, his love to him, and cheerful obedience to his commands; not in order to know these himself, which he was not ignorant of, but to make them known to others, and that Abraham's faith might be strengthened yet more and more, as in the issue it was. The Jewish writers h observe, that Abraham was tempted ten times, and that this was the tenth and last temptation:

and said unto him, Abraham: calling him by his name he well knew, and by that name he had given him, to signify that he should be the father of many nations, Genesis 17:5; and yet was going to require of him to slay his only son, and offer him a sacrifice to him:

and he said, behold, [here] I [am]; signifying that he heard his voice, and was ready to obey his commands, be they what they would.

b T. Bab. Sanhedrin: fol. 89. 2. c Antiqu. l. 1. c. 13. sect. 2. d Annales Vet. Test. p. 10. e Ganz Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 6. 1. f Zohar in Gen. fol. 68. 2. & 74. 4. & 76. 2. Targ. Hieros. in Exod. xii. 42. Praefat. Echa Rabbat. fol. 40. 2. Pirke Eliezer, c. 31. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 1. p. 3. Juchasin, fol. 9. 1. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 3. 1. g Patricides, p. 19. Elmacinus, p. 34. Apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 327, &c. h Targum. Hieros. in loc. Pirke Eliezer, c. 31.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Abraham Was Tested

2. מריה morı̂yâh, “Moriah”; Samaritan: מוראה môr'âh; “Septuagint,” ὑψηλή hupsēlē, Onkelos, “worship.” Some take the word to be a simple derivative, as the Septuagint and Onkelos, meaning “vision, high, worship.” It might mean “rebellious.” Others regard it as a compound of יה yâh, “Jah, a name of God,” and מראה mı̂r'eh, “shown,” מורה môreh, “teacher,” or מורא môrā', “fear.”

14. יראה yı̂r'ēh, “Jireh, will provide.”

16, נאם n^e'um, ῥῆμα rēma, “dictum, oracle; related: speak low.”

21. בוּז bûz, “Buz, scoffing.” קמוּאל q^emû'ēl, “Qemuel, gathered of God.”

22. חזו chăzô, “Chazo, vision.” פלדשׁ pı̂ldâsh, “Pildash, steelman? wanderer?” ידלף yı̂dlâp, “Jidlaph; related: trickle, weep.” בתוּאל b^etû'ēl, “Bethuel, dwelling of God.”

23. רבקה rı̂bqâh, “Ribqah, noose.”

24. ראוּמה re'ûmâh, “Reumah, exalted.” טבה ṭebach, “Tebach, slaughter.” גחם gacham, “Gacham, brand.” תחשׁ tachash, “Tachash, badger or seal.” <מעכה ma‛ăkâh, “Ma‘akah; related: press, crush.”

The grand crisis, the crowning event in the history of Abraham, now takes place. Every needful preparation has been made for it. He has been called to a high and singular destiny. With expectant acquiescence he has obeyed the call. By the delay in the fulfillment of the promise, he has been taught to believe in the Lord on his simple word. Hence, as one born again, he has been taken into covenant with God. He has been commanded to walk in holiness, and circumcised in token of his possessing the faith which purifieth the heart. He has become the intercessor and the prophet. And he has at length become the parent of the child of promise. He has now something of unspeakable worth, by which his spiritual character may be thoroughly tested. Since the hour in which he believed in the Lord, the features of his resemblance to God have been shining more and more through the darkness of his fallen nature - freedom of resolve, holiness of walk, interposing benevolence, and paternal affection. The last prepares the way for the highest point of moral likeness.

Verse 1-19

God tests Abraham’s unreserved obedience to his will. “The God.” The true, eternal, and only God, not any tempter to evil, such as the serpent or his own thoughts. “Tempted Abraham.” To tempt is originally to try, prove, put to the test. It belongs to the dignity of a moral being to be put to a moral probation. Such assaying of the will and conscience is worthy both of God the assayer, and of man the assayed. “Thine only one.” The only one born of Sarah, and heir of the promise. “Whom thou lovest.” An only child gathers round it all the affections of the parent’s heart. “The land of Moriah.” This term, though applied in 2 Chronicles 3:1 to the mount on which the temple of Solomon was built, is here the name of a country, containing, it may be, a range of mountains or other notable place to which it was especially appropriated. Its formation and meaning are very doubtful, and there is nothing in the context to lend us any aid in its explanation. It was evidently known to Abraham before he set out on his present journey. It is not to be identified with Moreh in Genesis 12:6, as the two names occur in the same document, and, being different in form, they naturally denote different things. Moreh is probably the name of a man. Moriah probably refers to some event that had occurred in the land, or some characteristic of its inhabitants. If a derivative, like בריה porı̂yâh, “fruitful,” it may mean the land of the rebellious, a name not inapposite to any district inhabited by the Kenaanites, who were disposed to rebellion themselves Genesis 14:4, or met with rebellion from the previous inhabitants. If a compound of the divine name, Jah, whatever be the other element, it affords an interesting trace of the manifestation and worship of the true God under the name of Jab at some antecedent period. The land of Moriah comprehended within its range the population to which Melkizedec ministered as priest.

And offer him for a burnt-offering. - Abraham must have felt the outward inconsistency between the sacrifice of his son, and the promise that in him should his seed be called. But in the triumph of faith he accounted that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead. On no other principle can the prompt, mute, unquestioning obedience of Abraham be explained. Human sacrifice may have been not unknown; but this in no way met the special difficulty of the promise. The existence of such a custom might seem to have smoothed away the difficulty of a parent offering the sacrifice of a son. But the moral difficulty of human sacrifice is not so removed. The only solution of this, is what the ease itself actually presents; namely, the divine command. It is evident that the absolute Creator has by right entire control over his creatures. He is no doubt bound by his eternal rectitude to do no wrong to his moral creatures. But the creature in the present case has forfeited the life that was given, by sin. And, moreover, we cannot deny that the Almighty may, for a fit moral purpose, direct the sacrifice of a holy being, who should eventually receive a due recompense for such a degree of voluntary obedience. This takes away the moral difficulty, either as to God who commands, or Abraham who obeys. Without the divine command, it is needless to say that it was not lawful for Abraham to slay his son.

Upon one of the hills of which I will tell thee. - This form of expression dearly shows that Moriah was not at that time the name of the particular hill on which the sacrifice was to be offered. It was the general designation of the country in which was the range of hills on one of which the solemn transaction was to take place. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning.” There is no hesitation or lingering in the patriarch. If this has to be done, let it be done at once.

Genesis 22:4-10

The story is now told with exquisite simplicity. “On the third day.” From Beer-sheba to the Shalem of Melkizedec, near which this hill is supposed to have been, is about forty-five miles. If they proceeded fifteen miles on the first broken day, twenty on the second, and ten on the third, they would come within sight of the place early on the third day. “Lifted up his eyes.” It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of the Bible that this phrase does not imply that the place was above his point of view. Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the vale of Jordan Genesis 13:10, which was considerably below the position of the observer. “And return unto you.” The intimation that he and the lad would return, may seem to have rested on a dim presentiment that God would restore Isaac to him even if sacrificed. But it is more in keeping with the earnestness of the whole transaction to regard it as a mere concealment of his purpose from his servants. “And he bound Isaac his son.” There is a wonderful pathos in the words his son, his father, introduced in the sacred style in this and similar narratives. Isaac, when the trying moment came, seems to have made no resistance to his father’s will. The binding was merely a sacrificial custom. He must have concluded that his father was in all this obeying the will of God, though he gave him only a distant hint that it was so. Abraham is thoroughly in earnest in the whole procedure.

Genesis 22:11-14

At this critical moment the angel of the Lord interposes to prevent the actual sacrifice. “Lay not thy hand upon the lad.” Here we have the evidence of a voice from heaven that God does not accept of human victims. Man is morally unclean, and therefore unfit for a sacrifice. He is, moreover, not in any sense a victim, but a doomed culprit, for whom the victim has to be provided. And for a typical sacrifice that cannot take away, but only shadow forth, the efficacious sacrifice, man is neither fit nor necessary. The lamb without blemish, that has no penal or protracted suffering, is sufficient for a symbol of the real atonement. The intention, therefore, in this case was enough, and that was now seen to be real. “Now I know that thou fearest God.” This was known to God antecedent to the event that demonstrated it. But the original “I have known” denotes an eventual knowing, a discovering by actual experiment; and this observable probation of Abraham was necessary for the judicial eye of God, who is to govern the world, and for the conscience of man, who is to be instructed by practice as well as principle. “Thou hast not withheld thy son from me.” This voluntary surrender of all that was dear to him, of all that he could in any sense call his own, forms the keystone of Abraham’s spiritual experience. He is henceforth a tried man.

Genesis 22:13-14

A ram behind. - For “behind” we have “one” in the Samaritan, the Septuagint, Onkelos, and some MSS. But neither a “single ram” nor a “certain ram” adds anything suitable to the sense. We therefore retain the received reading. The voice from heaven was heard from behind Abraham, who, on turning back and lifting up his eyes, saw the ram. This Abraham took and offered as a substitute for Isaac. Both in the intention and in the act he rises to a higher resemblance to God. He withholds not his only son in intent, and yet in fact he offers a substitute for his son. “Jehovah-jireh”, the Lord will provide, is a deeply significant name. He who provided the ram caught in the thicket will provide the really atoning victim of which the ram was the type. In this event we can imagine Abraham seeing the day of that pre-eminent seed who should in the fullness of time actually take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. “In the mount of the Lord he will be seen.” This proverb remained as a monument of this transaction in the time of the sacred writer. The mount of the Lord here means the very height of the trial into which he brings his saints. There he will certainly appear in due time for their deliverance.

Genesis 22:15-19

Abraham has arrived at the moral elevation of self-denial and resignation to the will of God, and that in its highest form. The angel of the Lord now confirms all his special promises to him with an oath, in their amplest terms. An oath with God is a solemn pledging of himself in all the unchangeableness of his faithfulness and truth, to the fulfillment of his promise. The multitude of his seed has a double parallel in the stars of heaven and the sands of the ocean. They are to possess the gate of their enemies; that is, to be masters and rulers of their cities and territories. The great promise, “and blessed in thy seed shall be all the nations of the earth,” was first given absolutely without reference to his character. Now it is confirmed to him as the man of proof, who is not only accepted as righteous, but proved to be actually righteous after the inward man; “because thou hast obeyed my voice” Genesis 26:5. The reflexive form of the verb signifying to bless is here employed, not to denote emphasis, but to intimate that the nations, in being blessed of God, are made willing to be so, and therefore bless themselves in Abraham’s seed. In hearing this transcendent blessing repeated on this momentous occasion, Abraham truly saw the day of the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the Son of man. We contemplate him now with wonder as the man of God, manifested by the self-denying obedience of a regenerate nature, intrusted with the dignity of the patriarchate over a holy seed, and competent to the worthy discharge of all its spiritual functions.

With the nineteenth verse of this chapter may be said to close the main revelation of the third Bible given to mankind, to which the remainder of this book is only a needful appendix. It includes the two former Bibles or revelations - that of Adam and that of Noah; and it adds the special revelation of Abraham. The two former applied directly to the whole race; the latter directly to Abraham and his seed as the medium of an ultimate blessing to the whole race. The former revealed the mercy of God offered to all, which was the truth immediately necessary to be known; the latter reveals more definitely the seed through whom the blessings of mercy are to be conveyed to all, and delineates the leading stage in the spiritual life of a man of God. In the person of Abraham is unfolded that spiritual process by which the soul is drawn to God. He hears the call of God and comes to the decisive act of trusting in the revealed God of mercy and truth; on the ground of which act he is accounted as righteous. He then rises to the successive acts of walking with God, covenanting with him, communing and interceding with him, and at length withholding nothing that he has or holds dear from him. In all this we discern certain primary and essential characteristics of the man who is saved through acceptance of the mercy of God proclaimed to him in a primeval gospel. Faith in God Genesis 15:0, repentance toward him Genesis 16:0, and fellowship with him Genesis 18:0, are the three great turning-points of the soul’s returning life. They are built upon the effectual call of God Genesis 12:0, and culminate in unreserved resignation to him Genesis 22:0. With wonderful facility has the sacred record descended in this pattern of spiritual biography from the rational and accountable race to the individual and immortal soul, and traced the footsteps of its path to God.

The seed that was threatened to bruise the serpent’s head is here the seed that is promised to bless all the families of the earth. The threefold individuality in the essence of the one eternal Spirit, is adumbrated in the three men who visited the patriarch, and their personal and practical interest in the salvation of man is manifested, though the part appropriated to each in the work of grace be not yet apparent.

Meanwhile, contemporaneous with Abraham are to be seen men (Melkizedec, Abimelek) who live under the covenant of Noah, which was not abrogated by that of Abraham, but only helped forward by the specialities of the latter over the legal and moral difficulties in the way to its final and full accomplishment. That covenant, which was simply the expansion and continuation of the Adamic covenant, is still in force, and contains within its bosom the Abrahamic covenant in its culminating grandeur, as the soul that gives life and motion to its otherwise inanimate body.

Genesis 22:20-24

This family notice is inserted as a piece of contemporaneous history, to explain and prepare the way for the marriage of Isaac. “Milkah, she also,” in allusion to Sarah, who has borne Isaac. So far as we know, they may have been sisters, but they were at all events sisters-in-law. The only new persons belonging to our histoy are Bethuel and Rebekah. Uz, Aram, and Kesed are interesting, as they show that we are in the region of the Shemites, among whom these are ancestral names Genesis 10:23; Genesis 11:28. Buz may have been the ancestor of Elihu Jeremiah 25:23; Job 32:2. Maakah may have given rise to the tribes and land of Maakah Deuteronomy 3:14; 2 Samuel 10:6. The other names do not again occur. “And his concubine.” A concubine was a secondary wife, whose position was not considered disreputable in the East. Nahor, like Ishmael, had twelve sons, - eight by his wife, and four by his concubine.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XXII

The faith and obedience of Abraham put to a most extraordinary

test, 1.

He is commanded to offer his beloved son Isaac for a burnt-offering, 2.

He prepares, with the utmost promptitude, to accomplish the will

of God, 3-6.

Affecting speech of Isaac, 7;

and Abraham's answer, 8.

Having arrived at mount Moriah he prepares to sacrifice his son, 9, 10;

and is prevented by an angel of the Lord, 11, 12.

A ram is offered in the stead of Isaac, 13;

and the place is named Jehovah-jireh, 14.

The angel of the Lord calls to Abraham a second time, 15;

and, in the most solemn manner, he is assured of innumerable

blessings in the multiplication and prosperity of his seed, 16-18.

Abraham returns and dwells at Beer-sheba, 19;

hears that his brother Nahor has eight children by his wife Milcah, 20;

their names, 21-23;

and four by his concubine Reumah, 24.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXII

Verse Genesis 22:1. God did tempt Abraham — The original here is very emphatic: והאלהים נסה את אברהם vehaelohim nissah eth Abraham, "And the Elohim he tried this Abraham;" God brought him into such circumstances as exercised and discovered his faith, love, and obedience. Though the word tempt, from tento, signifies no more than to prove or try, yet as it is now generally used to imply a solicitation to evil, in which way God never tempts any man, it would be well to avoid it here. The Septuagint used the word επειρασε, which signifies tried, pierced through; and Symmachus translates the Hebrew nissah by εδοξαζες, God glorified Abraham, or rendered him illustrious, supposing the word to be the same with nas, which signifies to glister with light, whence nes, an ensign or banner displayed. Thus then, according to him, the words should be understood: "God put great honour on Abraham by giving him this opportunity of showing to all successive ages the nature and efficacy of an unshaken faith in the power, goodness, and truth of God." The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the place thus: "And it happened that Isaac and Ishmael contended, and Ishmael said, I ought to be my father's heir, because I am his first-born; but Isaac said, It is more proper that I should be my father's heir, because I am the son of Sarah his wife, and thou art only the son of Hagar, my mother's slave. Then Ishmael answered, I am more righteous than thou, because I was circumcised when I was thirteen years of age, and if I had chosen, I could have prevented my circumcision; but thou wert circumcised when thou wert but eight days old, and if thou hadst had knowledge, thou wouldst probably not have suffered thyself to be circumcised. Then Isaac answered and said, Behold, I am now thirty-six years old, and if the holy and blessed God should require all my members, I would freely surrender them. These words were immediately heard before the Lord of the universe, and מימרא דיי meimera daiya, the WORD of the LORD, did try Abraham." I wish once for all to remark, though the subject has been referred to before, that the Chaldee term מימרא meimera, which we translate word, is taken personally in some hundreds of places in the Targums. When the author, Jonathan, speaks of the Divine Being as doing or saying any thing, he generally represents him as performing the whole by his meimera, which he appears to consider, not as a speech or word spoken, but as a person quite distinct from the Most High. St. John uses the word λογος in precisely the same sense with the Targumists, John 1:1; see the notes there, and see before on Genesis 21:22, and Genesis 15:1.